How to Schedule Appointments

Summary

There are several ways to schedule customers with our software. Our software provides great features to schedule customers either individually or in bulk. This guide will cover scheduling customers individually via the customer card and the route view.

Intelligent Routing and the Job Pool are great scheduling tools to schedule customers in bulk, so please see our guides on those features for more information.

How to schedule on a route

One of the easiest ways to schedule an individual appointment for a customer is by selecting an open slot on the route you wish to schedule a customer on.

Hover over an open slot on a route, and the option to Schedule Fixed Appointment will appear. Select the slot to bring up the New Appointment window.

Using the New Appointment Window

When the New Appointment window comes up, the user can search for an existing customer or create a new one.

• Existing Customer: Use this field to search for an existing customer. Search options include first name, last name, customer ID, physical address, and phone number. Type in three or more characters for search results to appear. Once the user selects the customer, the appointment card will appear.
• New Customer: Use this field to schedule a brand-new customer. Enter the customer's last name, and a new option that says Continue With New Customer will appear. The appointment card will appear once the user selects Continue With New Customer.

Using the Appointment Card

Please view The Appointment Card guide for more details on all the options within the appointment card. 

After entering the appointment details, select Schedule to schedule the customer on the route.

When scheduling a new customer, the customer card will appear once Schedule is selected. We recommend using that as an opportunity to ensure all the proper information for the new customer is entered into the customer card.

Scheduling via Customer Card

The customer's appointment can be scheduled via the Customer Card. Open the customer card, and select Schedule in the lower left corner.

Clicking Schedule brings up the Recommended Routes window. Recommended Routes suggests routes to schedule the customer based on distance.

Selecting a route on the Recommended Routes window will take you to the route view for that day. Select an open spot on the route to schedule the customer's appointment. Please see below for detailed information on using the Recommended Routes window.

Alternatively, you do not need to use the Recommended Routes window if you are on the same page as the route you wish to schedule the customer on. You can select an open slot on the route and schedule the customer that way.

Using the Recommended Routes (Filters)

The Recommended Routes window makes it easy to choose the best routes to schedule customers on. Several filters will allow you to find the best route for the customer.

Under the Filter Routes section:

• Sort by Closest: By default, this feature will sort available routes by the closest average distance to the customer you're scheduling, and all of the customers scheduled on that route. However, you can select the filter to change it to "Sort by Soonest" to rank the soonest available routes.
• Include Full Routes: By default, Recommended Routes will display all routes, including full routes. Click on the filter and switch it to "Only Non-Filled Routes" to view only routes with available slots.
• Filter Techs: Use this to filter routes assigned to specific technicians.
• Filter Groups: Limit available routes by route group.
• Max Miles: This will limit how far away the customer you're currently scheduling can be from the closest customer on the route.
• Date Range: This date range will allow you to select routes within a specific date range.
• Match by Tech Skills: Limit available routes to technicians with matching skills
• Exclude Routes over capacity: Hide routes that exceed capacity.

Select Refresh to apply filters.

Using the Recommended Routes (Data Columns)

Below is detailed information about the Recommended Routes columns to the right side of the window:

• Date: This is the date the route is scheduled on.
• Tech: This is the technician that is assigned to the route.
• Avg. Distance: The average distance between the customer you're currently scheduling and each customer already scheduled on that route.
• Closest To: This shows the customer that is closest to the customer you're scheduling.
• Capacity: This shows the number of filled spots and the total number of spots for the route.
• Sub SF: Aggregate of all Subscription square footage area already scheduled on the route
• Total SF: Aggregate of all Subscription square footage area plus any additional Add-on square footage on the route
• Sub LF: Aggregate of all Subscription linear footage already scheduled on the route
• Total LF: Aggregate of all Subscription linear footage plus any additional Add-on linear footage on the route
• Available: 

Scheduling via Route Actions

If you would like to add a customer to a route but are unsure which customer would be the best fit, then you can utilize the Recommend Appointments feature under Route Actions.

Select Route Actions on the desired route, and then click on Recommend Appointments. This will prompt the Job Pool to pop up.

The Job Pool will display all of the customers that are due for service, and are closest to the customers already scheduled on this route. View the Job Pool guide to learn more about the Job Pool.

Optimizing All Routes

In addition to optimizing a single route, selecting Optimize from the Scheduling header allows all routes in the group for the day to be optimized simultaneously. A pop-up window will appear with the following settings that can be designated for specifically desired results:

• Fixed/Flexible Route Assignments:
  • Fixed Route Assignments (Appointments cannot move to different technicians)
  • Flexible Route Assignments (Can move appointments between technicians for better optimization)
• Optimize Current/All Groups for the Day:
  • Optimize Just the Current Group: Only the current group being scheduled will be optimized
  • Optimize All Groups Scheduled for Today: All groups for today will be optimized
• Max Square Feet: Designate the maximum value in square feet each route may be assigned
• Max Linear Feet: Designate the maximum value in linear feet each route may be assigned
• Same Side Routing: This will provide all stops are approached on a specific side of the road in cases where hoses or other equipment need to be accessed and should not cross traffic lanes
  • N/A: Default - no Same Side Routing is required
  • Right: The route stops will be arranged in the order most likely to provide clear right-side access.
  • Left: The route stops will be arranged in the order most likely to provide clear left-side access
• Commercial Vehicle Routing: Applies local street restrictions on heavy commercial vehicle access
• Hazmat Routing: Applies local area restrictions on Hazmat material transport
• Bridge Height (meters): Applies designated height restriction on the route

Select Optimize All to have the system optimize the designated routes.

How to change the Service Type for a Single Structure Appointment

There are some things to note for occasions where the service type is altered after originally being scheduled. Orange exclamation point icons will appear next to Scheduling and Billing to indicate what changes will occur. Hovering over the icons explains what changes will take place.

• Scheduling: Indicates the Products for the appointment will reflect the new service type and remove all previously set products.
• Billing: Advises that Ticket Items and/or Pricing may not match with the default for the service type.

How to change the Service Type for a Multi-Unit Appointment

For Multi-Unit properties, the orange exclamation icon will appear next to Units instead of Scheduling for alerts concerning Products. Additionally, the icon next to Units can notify you that the number of units could change depending on the unit quote for the selected service type.